Going Up
by Serenity Goddess
Summary: Years after breaking up, Buffy and Xander find themselves trapped in an elevator while on the way to Willow's party. And we all know how much fun we can have in an elevator. (B/X)


Willow's apartment, 10:30 p.m.  
  
Willow Rosenburg watched the clock anxiously. It was not like them  
to be   
late.  
  
The party was going on at full swing, and she could not resist the   
temptation to sway her hips and tap her feet to the addictive uptempo music   
playing in the hallway. She smiled at the random people that passed by her.   
She was not sure who invited them to her birthday party, but she was sure   
that she didn't know them at all.  
  
"Hey, honey," Oz came up to her and held her hand. "Why so glum? It's your   
birthday. Come dance with me." He tried to lead her out into the hallway   
where a large number of the rhythm impaired guests were attempting to show   
off their skills.  
  
Willow didn't want to move, and stood her ground. "I think I'll pass . For   
now."  
  
"They're going to show up, don't worry." Oz stroked the side of her face   
gently. "In the meantime, you can have me all to yourself." He gripped her   
hand tighter and tried again to get her do dance with him.  
  
This time she obliged. She followed Oz slowly and wove in and out of the   
large group of people. Willow herself was surprised that so many people   
showed up. She spoke loudly to Oz, hoping that she was audible over the loud   
music. "They'll show up soon, right?"  
  
"Sure," replied Oz confidently. He led her to the middle of the hallway, and   
danced with her. Willow wanted to dance, but felt embarrased of her   
two-left-feet condition. She decided on standing still with an occasional   
finger snapping, or a few sways here and there. She looked at the clock for   
the sixtieth time and wondered where her two best friends were.  
  
* *  
  
Alexander Lavelle Harris silently cussed as he watched the traffic light   
turn from green to red. He slowed his car to a stop and rolled up his sleeve   
to look at his watch. He was already running late. He wondered if Willow   
would forgive him for arriving an hour late.  
  
If it hadn't been for his pathetic excuse for a car, he would have already   
reached her place by now. It took him twenty-five minutes just to get the   
piece of scrap metal started. And if that wasn't enough, it stalled four   
times on the way. He noisily drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and   
waited. And waited.  
  
The light turned green. "Finally," he muttered as he sped off.  
  
He was fortunate enough to reach Willow's building without any other   
problems. He hastily parked his car and jumped out, grabbing the wrapped   
present that laid on the passenger seat. He rushed into the building and   
nodded to the doorman, before stepping into the elevator.  
  
As he was about to press a button on the panel, he heard a woman's voice   
call out to him. "Hold the doors please!" Xander sighed and pressed the   
appropriate button.  
  
* *  
  
Buffy Anne Summers flipped open her compact and looked at her reflection.   
Her hair wasn't too bad, and at least her make-up looked good. She stared at   
her reflection as she walked down the sidewalk. After being satisfied that   
she wasn't looking that horrible, she slipped her compact into her purse and   
continued walking.  
  
Willow is going to kill me, she thought to herself. It wasn't as if she   
*planned* on being late. In fact, she planned to arrive early. She even had   
a nice schedule drawn out.  
  
Everything was going well until her cat knocked down the toaster which burst   
into flames on contact with the floor. It wasn't long before her curtains   
caught fire. She was relieved that she managed to get the fire under control   
and that nothing else was damaged. Nevertheless, it ate up nearly an hour of   
her time, and now she was late, and she was going to be murdered by her best   
friend.  
  
She turned right and spotted Willow's building. She sighed and crossed the   
road quickly. The doorman opened the door for her and she hurriedly mumbled   
her thanks. As she entered the building, she realised that the elevator   
doors were about to close. "Hold the doors, please!" she cried out, to   
whoever was in the elevator.  
  
Fortunately , that someone had heard her and the doors remained open. She   
ran up to the elevator and stepped inside. "Thanks," she mumbled   
incoherently as she turned around to look at the button panel. Suddenly, she   
spun around, when she realised who was in the elevator with her. "Xander?"  
  
"Hey." Xander's monosyllabic seemed rather cold. He paused for a few seconds   
before continuing. "Haven't seen you around for a while."  
  
Buffy nodded. "I've been busy." She was getting uncomfortable.  
  
Fortunately, Xander sensed that, and he put his arm forward towards the   
panel. "Ninth floor, I assume?"  
  
"Right." Buffy replied. "I mean, that is, if we're going to the same party."  
  
"I believe we are." Xander pressed the button marked '9' and stood back.   
"Going up." He announced, and the elevator started moving. The cold, formal   
nature of their conversation was unnerving.  
  
First floor.  
  
"So," Buffy attempted to speak. There was no point in being uncivilized.   
"How are things with you?"  
  
"Fine, thanks." Xander folded his arms before unfolding them again. He   
shifted his weight between uneasily. "You?"  
  
"Great. Everything's going great." Buffy feigned a smile.  
  
Second floor.  
  
"Good, good." Xander nodded and pretended to smile too. "It's great that   
your life is great. My life's great too. I guess we're all living great   
lives, huh." That was lame, he thought.  
  
That was lame, thought Buffy. She carried on with her smiling charade.   
"Yeah, I guess."  
  
Third floor.  
  
"Did you bring Willow a present?" Xander asked, in a hopeless attempt for a   
better conversation. He motioned to the present which he had tucked under   
his arm.  
  
"Sure. In my bag."  
  
Fourth floor.  
  
"What did you get her?" Xander put his free hand at the back of his head.   
The situation was getting even more uncomfortable by the second. "I got her   
chocolates."  
  
"That's nice." Buffy paused shortly before continuing. "I got her some   
earrings."  
  
"So you could borrow them later?" Xander silently cursed himself. Just when   
they were carrying a civilized conversation without physical violence of any   
kind, he had to stick his big fat foot in his big fat mouth.  
  
Fifth floor.  
  
Buffy tossed him a look. "I assume you bought her chocolates so you could   
eat them as well. I recall that's what you did the last time you bought me   
chocolates."  
  
Xander grimaced. "I didn't mean what I said just now. I was just kidding."  
  
Sixth floor.  
  
"Well, I, for one, say what I mean." Buffy decided that the elevator doors   
looked more interesting, and turned away from him to face them. "And I mean   
what I say."  
  
Xander put his hands down helplessly. "Look, I didn't mean it. It just   
slipped out. Honest."  
  
Seventh floor.  
  
Buffy gave a disgusted snort and kept on looking at the door.  
  
"You know what, forget it." Xander said in frustration. "There's no point in   
trying to carry on a decent conversation with you. It's just not possible."   
He turned around and looked at the mirror at the back of the elevator.  
  
Seventh floor.  
  
Buffy spun around. "What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
"Oh, now you want to talk." Xander turned round to face her. "Color me   
stunned."  
  
"Okay, fine." Buffy turned around again to face the doors. "You don't want   
to talk, I don't want to talk."  
  
Seventh floor.  
  
"Hey, I'm not the one playing Pouty Slayer here," Xander protested. "I don't   
sulk and look at elevator doors whenever I'm uncomfortable with an ex   
boyfriend."  
  
"Who says I'm uncomfortable?" Buffy turned around yet another time. "I mean,   
sure, there's the usual awkwardness of being in an enclosed space with a   
citizen of Planet Moron."  
  
Seventh floor.  
  
"Are you calling me a moron?" He demanded to know. "So we're being six year   
olds now are we? Right, let's call each other names. Let's act *really*   
civilized." His words were laced with sarcasm.  
  
"Well, you have the brain of a six year old, so why not? I don't …" Buffy   
stopped short and glanced upwards. "Is it me or have we been on the seventh   
floor awfully long?"  
  
Xander looked at the floor indicator above the elevator doors. The number   
seven was highlighted, and it didn't look like it was going to change. "Oh   
great, the elevator's stuck."  
  
"Great observation, Sherlock," Buffy mumbled. "How long did it take you to   
figure out that one?"  
  
"Oh, stop your whining."  
  
* *  
  
Willow's apartment , 10:45 p.m.  
  
"Hi, you've reached Buffy Summers. Unfortunately, I'm not home right now, so   
leave a message at the …" Willow slammed down the phone. She bit her lower   
lip.  
  
"Still no luck?" Oz asked, sitting down beside her.  
  
"Xander's not answering his phone, and I got Buffy's machine. Again."  
  
"That means they're probably on the way. They'll be here any second." Oz   
tried to comfort his long time girlfriend. "No use getting worried about   
it."  
  
"Where could they be?" Willow asked desperately, although she knew no one   
there could give her a proper answer. "Great. You would think they would at   
least have the sense to be punctual on my birthday. My two best friends are   
late. Yippee. Happy birthday to me."  
  
"Maybe they got caught in traffic."  
  
"What traffic?" Willow stood up suddenly. "It's nearly eleven, for crying   
out loud. What traffic could there be? And Buffy lives within walking   
distance. Maybe I should walk to her place and find out what's going on."  
  
"Overreacting, much?" Oz took hold of Willow and forced her to sit down.   
"You need to relax. It's a birthday party, not a secret government meeting.   
They'll be here. I promise."  
  
Elevator , 10:47 p.m.  
  
"Great, great, great , great , great," grumbled Xander as he paced up and   
down in the small elevator. "As if things could get any worse."  
  
"It would really help if you just shut up and help me look for the stupid   
emergency button." Buffy searched the panel frantically. "I can't find it."  
  
"Wouldn't it be the red one marked 'EMERGENCY'?"  
  
"Ha, ha, shut up." Buffy looked up and down the panel for the umpteenth   
time. "I can't find it. What elevator doesn't have an emergency button?"  
  
"God, I can feel the air being sucked out…"  
  
"Would you … oh." Buffy placed her finger on a dark gray button. "*This* is   
the emergency button."  
  
"Then press it!"  
  
"It's already pressed down. It's permanently indented. Wonderful." Buffy   
slammed her fist into the metal doors. "How on earth are we going to get   
out?"  
  
Xander turned around and looked at the panel. Maybe that's what the   
telephone is for."  
  
"Oh," Buffy answered sheepishly. She was so busy looking for an emergency   
button that she completely overlooked the bulky black telephone receiver   
planted on the wall of the elevator.  
  
Xander walked over to the phone and picked up the receiver. Buffy approached   
him and took it from his hands. "Let me do it."  
  
"I could have done it," Xander curtly replied and reached out for the   
receiver.  
  
Buffy moved it away from his grasping hands. "You'll probably just flirt   
with the telephone operator."  
  
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"  
  
"You know very well what I mean. Go away." Buffy shooed him away with her   
left hand. She turned back to the phone and pressed a button. It was a while   
before someone picked up on the other line. "Hello? Hi. Yeah. I'm stuck in   
the elevator. Um .. about five minutes. Yeah. Yeah. What do you mean it'll   
take you some time to … I'm running late. Yeah. Yeah. Whatever. Could you   
hurry , please? Yes. Thank you."  
  
She placed the receiver down and smiled smugly at Xander. "See. All done.   
Efficiently."  
  
"Yes, where else I, did not have the skills required to speak into a   
telephone," replied Xander with a sting in his voice. "Whatever shall I do   
without you?"  
  
"Whore around with other women, I suppose. That's what you seem to be doing   
most of the time anyway."  
  
A shocked gasp escaped Xander's lips. "What? I do not whore around."  
  
"Sure, that's what you say. I believe you."  
  
"Look, when we were together…"  
  
Buffy cut him off. "When we *were* together. We're not anymore. We broke up   
because you were too busy drooling after every woman that passed your way.   
Remember?"  
  
"I did nothing like that. You know what? It's probably your psychotic   
dementia or something. You're paranoid, that's what." He ran his hand   
through his hair. "And I bet you're really missing the Xander love right   
now."  
  
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Oh, get over yourself. The mere thought of having   
sex with you just makes me want to hurl."  
  
"Really?" Xander raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "If you hated it so much,   
then why did you do it so many times?"  
  
"What can I say? I love charity work." Buffy replied without skipping a   
beat. "It's my calling to help the needy."  
  
"Well, I think only one of us here went 'Xander… oh … Xander … more …   
faster…'," Xander made exaggerated gasping sounds between words.  
  
Buffy felt her cheeks turn red. She tried to think of an appropriate   
comeback, or at least, an appropriate response. "I … just wanted it over and   
done with. That's all. It was the most excruciating 40 seconds of my life."  
  
"Oh, good one." Xander's tone turned icy again. He took a step closer to   
her. "Admit it. You want me so bad you can't stand it. The only reason you   
left was that you were too afraid of your own feelings. You just made up the   
whole whoring around business so you could get an excuse to leave."  
  
"Really." Buffy herself took a step closer to him and the space between them   
grew less. "I'm surprise this elevator has enough space for you, me, and   
your ego."  
  
"It's not my ego, it's the truth." He took another step closer, and they   
were standing almost cheek to cheek. He stared her straight in the eye. "And   
your hair's a mess."  
  
Buffy ignored his comment. "Oh, shut up." She brought her lips close to his   
and before either of them knew what was going on, the kiss multiplied by the   
dozens and it wasn't long before they were a tangled heap on the floor.  
  
The slayer pulled herself up and straddled Xander, gently stroking his face   
and running her fingers from his chin to his neck, to his chest, before   
resting on his stomach. She brings her hands up to his collar and begins to   
unbutton his shirt. He moans softly as his hands find their way to her back,   
and move along the contours of her body. He slowly guides them up to her   
neck, and before slowly feeling her breasts.  
  
She moaned into his ears and ripped off his shirt with one swift action.   
Xander smiled at her as she continued undressing him, pulling his belt from   
his pants and throwing them against the wall. Slowly, she pulled down the   
zipper on his pants …  
  
Elevator , 11: 21 p.m.  
  
A very naked Buffy Summers cuddled the equally naked Xander Harris under the   
heap of their discarded clothing. He played with her hair as she placed her   
head on his chest, listening to his heart beat.  
  
"That was fun." She spoke quietly.  
  
"*Lots* of fun." Xander replied, with a cheeky grin on his face. "What are   
we going to do now?"  
  
"Get dressed, I think," Buffy replied as she reluctantly got up and reached   
for her clothes. "I don't fancy being naked when they finally get the doors   
open." She slipped on blouse, and threw his clothes to him.  
  
"I meant about us."  
  
"I don't know." She gave him a kiss on the cheek. "We'll figure something   
out."  
  
They both got dressed. Xander stood beside her and looked around, not   
knowing what else to do. Something brought his glance upward, and he made a   
very interesting statement. "There's a security camera up there."  
  
Willow's apartment , 11: 28 p.m.  
  
"All right. They're either dead, or …" Willow paced up and down the kitchen   
frantically. "Something terrible must have happened. They should be here by   
now. They should be HERE."  
  
"Calm down." Oz was tired of repeating the same thing over and over again.   
In his mind he knew Willow would never calm down, but that didn't stop him   
from trying anyway. "I'm sure there's an explanation."  
  
"Right. And I *so* cannot wait to hear it."  
  
"Let's dance."  
  
"I can't dance in a crisis like this."  
  
"It isn't a crisis. They're just late that's all."  
  
"They're nearly two hours late," Willow protested, her tone taking on a near   
whine. "That isn't like them at all. I just can't sit here waiting…"  
  
"Let's dance. It'll make you feel better, and it'll take your mind off your   
worries. Come on." Oz tugged at her hand gently, and motioned to the hallway   
once more.  
  
Elevator , 11: 36 p.m.  
  
"Man, I so hope that camera's not working." Buffy said. Her gaze had not   
left the security camera since Xander made the observation more than ten   
minutes ago.  
  
"We can all pr…" Xander's sentence was interrupted by the sudden movement of   
the elevator. "We're moving!"  
  
"Oh, thank God." Buffy clasped her hands as the elevator moved up to the   
ninth floor. "Those morons really know how to take their own sweet time,   
don't they."  
  
"At least they did the job." Xander gave her a smile. He looked up at the   
floor indicator. The number nine was highlighted, and the doors jerked open.   
He hopped outside and held his hand towards Buffy. She gingerly accepted his   
hand and he pulled her out. "Come on, let see if Willow kills us."  
  
They walked hand in hand to Willow's apartment and knocked on the door   
gently. It swung open almost immediately and they found a rather hyped-up   
red-head standing there. "Oh! You're alive!"  
  
She hugged them both tightly. As soon as she let go, she slapped Xander on   
the shoulder hard. "Why didn't you tell me where you were? I was so   
worried."  
  
"We got stuck in the elevator," explained Buffy.  
  
"Oh. That elevator's always cranky," noted Willow. She smiled, relieved that   
nothing serious had happened. She gestured for them to enter. "Come on in.   
You missed most of the party, but hey, it's still going on. Hold on, I'll go   
find Oz." Willow skipped off to tell Oz that Buffy and Xander had finally   
arrived.  
  
Buffy looked at Xander and gave a smile that melted his heart. "You know, I   
was thinking that tonight … after the party…"  
  
"Yeah?" Xander asked hopefully.  
  
"You could come back to my place … and we could talk about … us." Buffy   
placed her hand on his arm. "Over breakfast."  
  
THE END 


End file.
